Dirt bikes on Maryland streets: Road toward solution from Annapolis filled with obstacles

In the Maryland General Assembly, what links Democrats and Republicans, Baltimore City and Hagerstown?

Apparently, dirt bikes. Or, at least, the illegal use of them on public roads.

A new bill sponsored by Dels. Regina T. Boyce, a Baltimore City Democrat, and William Wivell, a Washington County Republican, seeks to enable municipalities to address what has become a statewide issue: the on-road riding of off-road vehicles, including dirt bikes and ATVs.

Boyce said she hopes the legislation addresses “the illegality of dirt bike riding, but not the art of dirt bike riding” during an interview on the House floor on March 2, the day of the bill hearing.

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The activity has received attention as a Baltimore issue, with a group called the 12 O’clock Boys, (named after the angle of wheelies, which resembles the hands of a clock at 12), but areas across the state have groups of riders as well, including in Hagerstown in Western Maryland. The bikes have also been the source of legislative discussion in Salisbury on the Eastern Shore.

Bill has hearing in House Environment and Transportation Committee

During a hearing on Thursday before the House Environment and Transportation Committee, Boyce outlined five goals for her legislation, including aims to:

• “Move the conversation to active and creative solutions”

• “Hold accountable those who illegally ride dirt bikes without penalizing the art of dirt bike riding for those who ride legally”

• “Hold vehicle dealers and second-party sellers accountable for titling”

• “Provide local jurisdictions with the tools to create systems and manage processes that keep individuals from riding dirt bikes illegally, and from harming others and themselves”

• “Determine the proper definition of OHRV (off-road highway recreational vehicles)"

Wivell called the legislation “a start, but it needs some work” during an interview in his office the day of the hearing, adding that the issue is “pretty complex.”

Committee members thank sponsor for bill, raise questions

A handful of questions from committee members confirmed the issue’s complexity, and representatives who testified from both law enforcement (in favor) and an organization serving youth (opposed) demonstrated that an immediate simple solution likely was not in the offing.

“Why registration at the county level?” asked Del. Linda Foley, D-Montgomery, of her committee counterpart, Boyce.

A 2006 law created a standard for dirt bikes for permits, requiring sellers to inform riders in writing that dirt bikes are not permitted on the road. Boyce said the Motor Vehicle Administration had no enforcement mechanism to ensure titling.

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“A lot of people don’t know you’re supposed to title these vehicles,” Boyce told Maryland’s USA TODAY Network reporter during the interview on the House floor. “This would allow local jurisdictions to come up with what’s best for them, including the possibility of how they regulate impoundment.”

Del. Terry Baker, R-Allegany/Washington, asked Boyce how she envisioned impoundments working. This led to an exchange about the transfer of a vehicle and the often overlooked process of titling, which is different from registration that allows a vehicle to operate on the roads.

Law enforcement, former delegate testify in favor of legislation

Lt. Christopher Warren of the Baltimore City Police Department testified in favor of the bill, as did Christina Gilroy, the community policing operation supervisor in the Charles County Sheriff’s Office.

Warren, the city’s dirt-bike task force supervisor starting in 2016, said more than 600 illegal dirt bikes and ATVs were seized during a four-year period, starting in 2016 and ending in 2020.

Gilroy said her sheriff’s office in Southern Maryland fielded over 700 calls last year on the reckless operation of the bikes, down from more than 1,000 such calls each of the two years previous.

Former Del. Brenda Thiam, R-Washington, defeated in last November’s election and who brought a dirt-bike bill last year, testified virtually in support of this year’s legislation.

“Here in Hagerstown this continues to be a serious problem,” said Thiam, recounting an encounter where she had to slam on the brakes due to a rider driving between her and another car. “We don’t want to criminalize those who use motor vehicles legally.”

Del. Jeffrie Long, D-Calvert/Prince George’s, asked Boyce about whether areas with commission forms of government would need to have fines set by the General Assembly. With Baltimore City being one of the state’s 12 charter governments, Boyce and the panel did not immediately have an answer.

Washington County has a commission form of government; Wicomico County is a charter government with a county council and county executive.

Committee chair Del. Kumar Barve, D-Montgomery, asked the law enforcement officials whether dirt bike laws are a really difficult thing to enforce. Warren of the Baltimore City Police Department responded by describing how the city used its helicopter to track riders. Someone else quipped that not all jurisdictions had helicopters.

However, the Hagerstown Police Department recently began using remote-controlled drones to follow riders.

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Group of young riders oppose the initial legislation

What grounded the hearing was the presence of a group of young riders who came to oppose the bill.

“Where do you ride now?” Del. Charles Otto, a Lower Shore Republican, asked Brittany Young, founder of B-360, a Baltimore-based organization that uses dirt-bike culture to educate young people in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Young, a retired chemical engineer who said her organization has reached 9,000 individuals, explained to the committee that the group currently uses empty parking lots and is looking for a permanent campus for its activities, since dirt bikes can't be used on Maryland roads.

In an interview after the hearing, Young said B-360 operates programming in 12 rec centers, three libraries and two schools across the city and has received inquiries to expand statewide. The group has 30 bikes of its own that it uses in its programming.

Alongside her was a teenage member of the group who said he had been riding dirt bikes since age 3, equating the activity to a sport like basketball or football. (He also said he was not pleased to have to miss school to come to Annapolis for the bill hearing.)

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“If you make all people register dirt bikes, that criminalizes poor people,” said Young, who founded the group as a program to address on-the-ground issues in her hometown. “There was a dirt bike police task force for enforcement.

“There was this law that (the police) had to enforce,” she said, “but there was no programming to help people do it the right way, and there was also no spaces for people who don’t want to be in the streets.”

Both bill sponsors, Boyce and Wivell, came out of the hearing room and spoke with Young in the hallway after her testimony, with the Washington County delegate shaking hands and the Baltimore City delegate posing for a photograph with the half-dozen teens in attendance.

“We’re hoping that we can work closely with the delegates, and with the state, and everyone to get this right,” Young said.

Dwight A. Weingarten is an investigative reporter, covering the Maryland State House and state issues. He can be reached at dweingarten@gannett.com or on Twitter at @DwightWeingart2.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Legislation to limit dirt bikes, ATVs on MD public roads gets hearing